My Name is Molly
by Gummysaur
Summary: She doesn't know what the Operation is. She's too young to understand that the human race is crashing and that their only hope is to erase the memories of their children and send them off to a faraway world. She wont remember her parents, her friends, or her hobbies. All she has is herself. But is the human race really extinct for all eternity? And is her memory truly gone forever?
1. Chapter 1

Molly clutched to her mother. The crowd was massive, and every single parent in the line was sobbing. She didn't understand what the tears were about; she was very young. She met eyes with her friend, Peanut Geralds. Peanut had mildly purplish-pink hair when she had tried to dye it for Halloween a couple of weeks ago, and she was wearing a red-and-black striped tee. Molly was short, even for her age. She wore a yellow shirt with a ribbon tied around her neck. She had short brown hair and rosy cheeks. She looked at her mother, who had tears running down her eyes.

"And the next lucky boy for the Operation is…Biff Herson?"

A tall boy with dark brown skin nervously stepped up.

"Great to meet you, Biff! Please go this way."

Molly didn't understand the Operation, or what it would do to her. She was starting to panic. She looked at her mother.

"I don't want to go. Can you come in with me?" Molly asked.

"N-no, sweetie. Only children can take the Operation. We…we're going to stay here." her mother made a sad smile.

"B-but…I don't want to leave you!" Molly cried.

"I'm sorry, my baby," she whispered. She hugged Molly.

All too soon, the male announcer walked up to the pedestal.

"Molly Hills?"

Molly screamed.

The men took her.

They dragged her into a spotless, sanitary room.

Two people in masks were sitting there with smiles. There was a bed between them.

"Hello, you must be Molly! What's your favorite candy?"

Molly sniffed. "G-gummy bears."

"Lucky you! We have a big jar of gummy bears." One of the people walked over to a shelf with tons of jars labeled "Caramels", "Chocolates", "Gum", and other sweets. She pulled off a jug named "Gummy Bears". She pulled out a crystal-clear gummy bear.

"Here you go!" the woman said cheerily, handing her said gummy bear. Molly may have been upset, but she didn't turn down the free candy. She bit into it and chewed.

"Ew, it tastes weird," Molly complained. As soon as the words were out, the gummy bear broke open and she felt a foreign liquid fill her mouth. The excessive said liquid made her instinctively swallow. There wasn't even time to panic. The world dipped below her feet and went black.

I~I~I~I~I~I

"…uhhh…"

"The Operation was successful."

"Phew."

Molly opened her eyes sleepily. The two women were staring back down at her. Molly sat up quickly.

"Where am I?" she asked. The women looked at her closely.

"Molly, do you know your last name?"

"Last name?"

"What's the name of your best friend?"

"Friend?"

"What are you doing in this room?"

"I-I don't know!"

"Perfect. You're good to go." One of the women pointed to a door in the back of the room. Molly walked through it and was greeted by rows of seats. Some had hippos snoring, some had squirrels talking. A faraway instinct in her brain was surprised for a fraction of a second, then she shook herself and sat in the back. She looked down and observed her wings.

_Wings?_

Again, there was that fleeting confusion that quickly passed. Molly settled in her seat and waited.

For who knows how long, animals trickled in. At one point, a blindingly pink-and-purple squirrel came through and sat next to Molly.

"Hiya!" the squirrel said cheerily. "I'm Peanut. Who are you?"

"P-Peanut?" Molly gasped.

"Your name is Peanut too?!"

"N-No, I'm Molly." the name Peanut had sounded so familiar. But from where? Then finally, the last animal walked in; a tall, blue horse with a white horn; and the train conductor boarded the room.

_Huh. So I'm on a train._

He began handing out slips of paper. Peanut looked at hers.

"Mine says Banana."

"Mine says Solaris." Molly remarked.

"These slips of paper contain the name of the town you will be going to. Do not lose them," the man ordered. Then he turned and went into the 'cockpit' of the train.

_Whoooosh!_

The train blast away quickly. For a second, the train was dark. And then it went into the open. There was a gigantic crowd full of screaming people, waving madly at the train. A neon-green sign caught her eye; it said "I LOVE YOU MOLLY." Molly was surprised. A moment later, a man grabbed the sign.

_Signs aren't allowed, _The voice in her head said quietly. This confused Molly again. Was she a movie star? Was this crowd for her? Why weren't signs allowed? The crowd shrieked and waved some more until the train descended into blackness again.

I~I~I~I~I~I

Molly squeezed her eyes shut and took deep breaths, looking around. The entire train was asleep except her, and the motion sickness was driving her insane. She would've looked outside the window to keep her nausea under control, but she couldn't see anything. Peanut snored quietly beside her. Molly puzzled over why she was in this train, puzzled over the crowd, puzzled over the neon-green sign. When she opened her eyes, a woman was checking each animal. Molly caught her eye.

"Oh!" the lady gave a surprised squeak. "You're still awake?"

"Er…"

"I thought the train conductor said the train vibrations were specifically engineered to lull everyone to slee-Oh!" she shuffled around a bit and cleared her throat. "You must be nauseous."

Molly winced and tried not to puke on the aisle, or, more distressingly, herself. The woman took a crystal-colored gummy bear from her pocket.

"Here, this is antinausea medication." Molly took it and almost put it in her mouth. Then she froze. Some deep gut instinct was screaming at her, shrieking, _do not eat that gummy bear! _

"Is something alright? Is that gummy bear…familiar at all?" the woman said nervously. "Oh gosh. I hope not. I don't want to re-do the operatio-Uhm! I mean…are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Molly mumbled, and put the gummy bear in her mouth. She may have tapped into that instinct and ignored the gummy bear, but she was about two-point-five seconds away from teaching the woman what she had for lunch today. She chewed, and then the gummy bear burst like a balloon. Molly gasped and some liquid spilled onto her shirt. She tensed up and swallowed nervously. _Wait, did I just swallow the rest of that gross stuff-Wait. Sleeping sounds like a really good idea…_

Molly sank into her chair and gave into the cold, silent darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

"Stop for Armor, stop for Armor!"

Molly shifted and yawned, her eyes blinking open. Five animals, an ostrich, rabbit, wolf, cat, and bear were shuffling towards the exit. The train went back into motion.

"What's going on?" Molly asked groggily.

"Sleeping Beauty wakes!" Peanut giggled. Then she paused. "Wait. Who's Sleeping Beauty again?"

"I don't think I'm that beautiful."

"You're soooo adorable. And lucky. Good thing you aren't one of those green hippos with facial hair. Yeeew!"

Molly laughed a little, when the train stopped again.

"Stop for Aurora, stop for Aurora!"

Five more animals got up.

The train resumed running.

Molly checked her slip. Judging by the way things were going now, the towns were in alphabetical order. Which meant it was going to take another nauseating hour or two before she reached her stop. Luckily, she could actually look out the window now. She got a glimpse of Aurora; it was an average-looking town. There were some scruffy peach trees here and there. The last thing she saw was a deer eating a peach, and the train whooshed away.

Molly chatted with Peanut about the smell of the train and the appearances of the animals around them.

"Look at that cub."

"The blue one?"

"No, the one with the beard. Yick."

The train halted.

"Stop for Banana, stop for Banana!"

Peanut stood up. "Well, this is my stop. See you around, Molly!"

Molly had a feeling she wouldn't see Peanut around ever again.

Four other animals got up. One of them was the gray cub Peanut had spoken about. Peanut looked stunned for a second, then exited the train. Molly waved madly, and Peanut smiled at her. Molly looked at the town of Banana. It wasn't anymore developed than Aurora; in fact, the only difference was that the trees bore apples instead of peaches. But closer inspection showed a pond or two and a long, winding river.

She caught a glimpse of Peanut observing a rock, and then the train sped away.

I~I~I~I~I~I

"Stop for Sky, stop for Sky!"

Molly struggled not to nod off. She had to stay awake. She had stopped glimpsing at the towns after a while; they were all the same. A native fruit, some ponds, a river, two buildings, and five houses.

There were much fewer animals on the train now. After about ten more minutes, Molly was about to give in to sleep when she heard the voice.

"Stop for Solaris, stop for Solaris!"

Molly jolted awake and stood up. She got a look at the other four that would be accompanying her.

There was a cat that had brown spots on her face.

There was a brown dog with an angry-looking expression.

There was a rabbit with freckles and blue ears.

There was a squirrel with a blue body and a white triangle on their forehead.

They all went towards the exit. Molly observed the town. The native fruit was cherries. There were two ponds. The river wasn't too winding or large, just average-sized. Molly stared at the train as it drove away slowly. Then she turned and faced the town. A dog ran out hurriedly out of the larger building.

"Hello! My name is Isabelle! I'm the temporary mayor of Solaris!" she chirped. Nobody asked her why her job was temporary. She looked at her clipboard.

"Purrl?"

"Present," the cat replied cooly.

"Butch?"

"Heya!" the dog barked.

"Pippy?"

"Here I am!" the rabbit cheered.

"Filbert?"

"H-huh?" the squirrel stammered.

"Molly?"

Everyone stared at her. Molly shifted her feet.

"Here," she said awkwardly.

"Great!" Isabelle clapped. "Tour around Solaris! Check out Main Street! Take some fruit, sell it to Reese! Make money! Go shopping! Buy some furniture for your houses!" Isabelle beamed at them, then guided each of them to their houses. Molly stood in front of hers. It was small, with an exterior that appeared to be made of straw. She walked in. It was dead empty, nothing in it at all except a bookshelf with a record player on top. She looked at the one and only disc inside it; a tune called K.K. Ballad. Next to the record player was a tiny, empty pot. Molly sighed. She was going to have to take the dog's advice and make some money, but first she wanted to check out her new town. Right outside her door was a patch of dandelions. Molly picked one up and walked back into her house. She placed the dandelion in the pot. She had no idea how to take care of it, but it looked somewhat nice next to the brown bookshelf. There were very few books inside it, however. She was going to have to buy a bigger bookshelf. She observed the house again, pleased to see it at least had some wallpaper and carpet.

Molly settled on the ground and yawned, not even wanting a bed, just to sleep.

_Not yet._

Molly went outside again and began harvesting cherries. Most of the other villagers were already doing so, and she didn't want to be left behind. Filbert, the squirrel, didn't look like he was planning on selling his cherries; he just kept popping them in his mouth happily. She went to the small, pink building labeled Re-Tail. Molly smiled at the name, then walked inside.

"Uh, how much could I get for all this?" Molly asked, showing her cherries. Reese sighed. Clearly, she had already gotten tons of cherries before.

"Hows 1,600 bells sound?" she said.

1600 bells! Molly had never heard of such a currency, but 1600 sounded like a lot!

"Wow! That sounds great!" Molly said cheerfully, and accepted the bells. Then she raced off to Main Street, eager to buy some furniture. There was a small, scraggly shack with messy scrawl saying "Nookling Junction". Molly entered. There was only one piece of furniture.

"Cat beat you to the other piece of furniture, a corn plant! (beat you, she did!)" a small voice behind her said. Molly whirled around and was greeted by a tiny raccoon in an apron.

"Names Timmy. Nice to meet you! (nice, indeed!)"

Molly disliked the way he talked. At first, his voice was loud and clear, but usually the last parts of his sentences were mumbled and irrelevant. However, it was quite literally in her nature to be polite.

"Hello. I'm Molly. Could I buy that sofa?" Molly asked, pointing to the striped orange-and-yellow couch. It didn't look very classic, but she'd take it. Better than sleeping on the floor.

"That'll be 3,600 bells, please!" the raccoon said eagerly.

"W-what?!" Molly spluttered. "That's a lot! I only have 1600 bells…"

Timmy smiled. "For you, this time only, I'm willing to sell it for that amount! After all, I'm guessing you have no furniture other than what my uncle provided! (no furniture at all!)" Molly nodded, relieved. She took it, and to her surprise, the sofa shuddered and turned into a leaf. For a second, she was stunned, then the feeling passed and holding a leaf that was secretly a couch felt completely normal.

"Thank you!" Molly said, and offered all her savings. At that moment, Butch burst through the door and Molly yelped.

"Furniture?" Butch demanded.

Timmy giggled. "Molly got it! (got it, indeed!)"

Butch groaned and promptly exited the shop in a huff, and Pippy burst in. She took one look at the two 'Sold Out' signs, and turned to the fishing rod for sale.

"I'll buy that," she sang, handing Timmy the bells. Molly was annoyed for half a second; buying a fishing rod would've been better in the long run. Oh well, at least she had somewhere semi-comfortable to sleep that night. And the sofa matched the bookshelf she owned. She exited the store and ran all the way to her house. She placed the sofa near the window so she could sleep by the stars, and snuggled into it. Someone like Butch may have had a hard time sleeping on it, but it was perfect for her size.

_Goodnight, Solaris._

Molly shut her eyes and drifted away.


	3. Chapter 3

_The peacekeeper yanked the neon sign from Molly's mother's grasp. She screamed and watched as the train vanished, terrified for her daughter. All that mattered was that she was safe. Suddenly, the plaza went silent as every adult stared up. A plane hovered by, looking utterly innocent. Inside the plane, however, was an alligator, touching a million controls. His stubby fingers landed on the large red one with crossbones on it. The bomb flew out towards the plaza. Strangers gripped each other, eyes shut, not bothering to pray. This bombing had been scheduled, planned to destroy everything before the plagues did first. The bomb flew down, closer to them every minute. The boy in the bright red shirt watched silently, terrified. He began to run. He began to run to the train. He leaped on the back of the train right before it descended into the tunnel, going so fast as it struggled to rip a hole in reality._

_And then the bomb hit._

_It slammed the ground, shuddered, and millions died instantly, exploding, debris raining everywhere, even getting inside the tunnel. Matter hammered the boy mercilessly, dusting his body in grit. He climbed into the compartment that held the food, feeling sick. _

_Minutes later, an attendant found him and began yelling. The boy was unsure if he was dreaming, since he was being yelled at by an ostrich, but the large bird tossed him out the window without a thought. He felt his body rush, rush so fast. And then he awoke to the sound of the train conductor yelling about a town. A town called Solaris._

Molly awoke early the next day, a trait she always had (although she had no memory of it). She exited her home, and saw to her surprise nobody was awake. She had the milky dawn light to herself.

Molly had to wait a little while for the Nookling Junction to open, so she was the first one in there. She picked out a gigantic bookshelf and a bug net. For a second, she felt slightly guilty for taking two things, but then she noted a large black-and-white bed, and hoped Butch would get it. Hopefully it would end his complaining about the fact he had nowhere to sleep.

Unfortunately, Butch awoke last, and Purrl beat him the the Junction, swooping the large bed, much to his frustration. He kept going on about how he had to sleep all night on the cold tiles again, now that Purrl had taken the bed he'd wanted. Purrl had lightly asked Filbert (who was also missing a bed,) if he would like to have a sleepover in celebration of moving to Solaris. This, of course, enraged Butch further, to make him yell even louder about his lack of furniture. Pippy just snickered, since her home had originally come with a plush, comfortable chaise lounge. Now, Molly was sitting at the plaza, staring at the clouds. Filbert was sleeping on the square of dirt in the center of it. Butch was ranting at Purrl over the checkered bed. Pippy was fervently chasing a leaf swirling in the air. Suddenly, Isabelle was on them, speaking a mile a minute.

"Slow down!" Butch barked. Isabelle looked stunned for a second.

"What was that?" Purrl asked, a million times calmer.

"Mayor…train…arriving…now!" Isabelle puffed, exhausted from her run to the plaza and her fast talking.

Filbert looked up and yawned. "I'm hungry."

"No time! No time! We need to gather outside the train station NOW!"

Pippy caught the leaf and cheered.

Molly squeezed her eyes shut. _Is everyone in this darn town insane?_

Isabelle was already racing off to the train station, yelling loudly about how they had to move now, now, now.

Purrl and Pippy dragged Filbert off to the train station, while Butch followed, muttering about something. Molly sighed and forced herself to follow them.

They waited at the small, pebbled area, and approximately five seconds later, a train arrived, and Molly heard Porter, the monkey who worked in the train station, yelling "Stop for Solaris, stop for Solaris!".

The air was still; even Butch was holding his breath. Molly tilted her head, struggling to hear what was going on, but ducks aren't renowned for their hearing abilities. Instead, the other animals (except Filbert, since he looked rather distracted,) could hear everything going on in there. Molly tried not to huff in frustration.

The mayor burst out of the station.

For a second, everyone was so taken aback they didn't say a word. Then Butch gasped, "We can't just stand here! Do something!"

_Thats…thats…_

Molly froze, completely unable to form words, much less a welcoming cheer.

_That's a _human_!_

Molly struggled to regain herself as the oddest sensation came over her. A human? What was so special about them? Why was she so stunned? They were just animals, like her. But something told her that humans had something more. Humans had a place in her body that she could never find, no matter how hard she searched; a jungle explorer raking through the vines, trying to find the extremely rare plant, unsure of which plant it was, with so many weeds and flowers taking root, tangling their feet, choking their legs…

Molly snapped back to reality when she heard Purrl practically shriek, "You GUYS!". The residents seemed to awaken from a slumber, then yelled in unison, "WELCOME, MAYOR!" with as much conviction as their foggy, déjá-vú-attacked brains could muster. The young boy standing before them looked utterly confused. He turned towards Isabelle.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he stammered. "Wait, why are you all animals?!"

Isabelle laughed and wagged her finger in his face. "You can't fool me. Everything is as it should be! Now, we need to get started on your resident card, your house, your TPC…oh boy! We have lots of work to do!"

"What's your name?" Molly asked.

The mayor paused, flattening his shirt. It looked like it was once candy-red, but now it was a dull mahogany, traced with dirt, with a large faded-out number 1 on it. He was wearing rather banged-up, denim shorts. He had short, black hair, messy as the rest of him. His eyes had a exhausted, eerie quality that gave Molly the creeps. He had no shoes or socks whatsoever. Overall, he looked like a total mess.

"My name…I'm…" the mayor hesitated. "Liam Anderson."

"That's your whole name? Liam Anderson?" Filbert asked in surprise. "That's a long name. Well, I hope you have fun here, Liam Anderson!"

"_Mayor _Liam Anderson," Purrl corrected.

Liam Anderson went red. "Just call me Liam. That's my first name. Anderson is my last name."

"You have a backup name?" Pippy asked, sounding confused. "Why? In case you forget your first?" Liam looked surprised, then smiled and shook his head.

"Nevermind. Just call me Liam."

Molly listened to the exchange with interest. She liked the concept of a last name, but decided it'd be too complicated for her. Liam turned to his citizens.

"What are your names?" he asked. He still looked confused, but at least he was speaking clearly.

"I'm Filbert!" Filbert said cheerfully.

"I'm Pippy!"

"I'm Purrl."

"Name's Butch."

Liam turned at stared at Molly. "And you?"

Molly paused and stared at her mayor. She felt a wave of distrust towards him. He was not supposed to be here; she sensed it, and not just because he told Isabelle so. She had a deep gut feeling that humans weren't supposed to be here, in Solaris.

But she relented. She opened her bill and stared Liam in the eye. _You aren't welcome here._

"My name is Molly."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, author note here. I just wanted to clear something up; this story is NOT a creepypasta. The concept may be creepy, yes, but it's not supposed to be written or treated creepily. …Okay, maybe it will be a little creepy. Just a little.**

**Also, I know normals wake up a 6AM and the Junction opens at 8. Molly wakes up later; it's intentional. In case anyone bothered to notice o.o**

**And an answer to a review!**

**Set: Liam is supposed to resemble the SSB character, but he isn't the exact same. That's just how I pictured him. (and the SSB character has brown hair. Get your facts straight. /shot jk)**

**Enough from me…onto the story!**

Dreams attacked Molly that night. Visions of thousands of animals, imprisoned, screaming and crying. Visions of the neon sign being grabbed. Visions of long, rolling hills.

Hills. Anderson.

Molly jolted awake with a gasp. Her webbed feet were numb. She was sweating and panting. She shivered in cold and saw the window was open. She vaguely recalled opening it, but never closing it. She was grateful for the plush, warm couch and soft tune of K.K. Ballad to calm her. She would thank Tom Nook for the furniture.

Wait, Nook's store didn't open until 10AM. Oh well, she'd tried.

Since she was awake, she decided to get some more furniture. She opened her door and was greeted by a cold blast of air and a gloomy, gray sky. The air carried the heaviness that suggested rain. Molly was full-on shuddering now. She wished she had a nice sweater, but not only did she not own one, the clothing store wouldn't be open at this time of day. She began trekking to Main Street, when she noticed something strange. Where there had once been two cherry trees, there was now a roped-off area with a sign in front. Curious, Molly looked at the writing on the sign. It read:

_"This area is reserved for Jacques' new home. -Nook's Homes"_

Molly smiled. A new resident sounded fun. She wondered what he'd look like.

_Crunch._

Molly leaped and whirled around, stunned to see the mayor. He'd just stepped into a pile of leaves, explaining the onomatopoeia that had just happened. Her heart pounded, and not just because she wasn't used to seeing anyone when she awoke.

"You're up early," he said.

"I could say the same to you."

Liam smiled a little. "Why are you up?"

"Just my routine," Molly replied curtly. "And you?"

"Nightmares," he replied brusquely. Molly was slightly taken aback.

"Of what?"

Pain flickered in his eyes. He looked down.

"Nevermind. You wouldn't remember."

"I'm not one to forget things."

Liam raised his eyebrows and then broke off into a laugh. Molly was frustrated by this.

"And what do you mean, remember?"

"I mean, I had nightmares. About you. And everyone in this village. And the whole concept. But you don't know why, do you?" he said, saying the last part rather bitterly.

Molly froze.

_What?_

Nightmares? About _her? _About her friends? Concept of what?

A million responses went by her head, but she settled on, "I had them too."

Liam's head shot up.

"About a crowd. And the sign that woman held up. Did you see that?"

Liam looked stunned. "You remember the crowd? And the sign?"

"Uh…yes," Molly replied uncomfortably. She didn't like what was going on.

"You weren't supposed to see the crowd. Or the sign. But what do I care? Maybe they'll help you remember."

"Remember what?"

"Remember _us!_" He said with a sudden bout of rage. "Remember yourself! You used to love to draw, remember? Chalk was your favorite! You loved to bake cookies. You hated dust and liked cleaning your room. You had toys and your best friend was Peanut. Don't you remember, Molly _Hills?!"_

Molly began slowly backing away. _He's insane. He's crazy._

"We were friends, Molly," he rasped. "I was your friend. Remember the dandelions? How we met?"

He began walking up to her, causing her to recede faster.

"Don't you remember your brother who died from the plagues? My sister was lost, too. Can't you even remember them?" he began slowing, tears in his eyes.

Molly whirled around and raced to her house, completely forgetting about the Junction. She slammed the door shut, breathing heavily, when something caught her eye.

The dandelions. Sitting there on the innocent, classic table, with the pretty white lace on top. Weeds.

Without a thought, she strolled up to them and swept them aside, the clay of the flowerpot hitting the ground with a loud _crash! _Her whole body trembled as the medicine from the Operation fought furiously against the wave of memories, threatening to bear down on her mind. (She had no awareness of this, only the feeling of sheer confusion.)

Out of the memory tsunami, a small drop squeezed through the chink in the armor, the crack in the barrier that the Operation had created.

"Stop! Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Molly yelled to nobody in particular. She gasped, taking in air, when the thunder clapped and the rain began pouring. She formed one memory.

_"Hey! You! Look what I got!"_

_"Liam! Stop! My friends are around. They're gonna think you're my boyfriend or something gross. I don't even know you."_

_"But look. Seriously."_

He'd extended his hand, where there had been a dandelion, just blooming.

_"Wanna come over to my house? I have a whole ton in the backyard."_

_"…It's really pretty. But…"_

_"My mom bakes the best cookies ever."_

_"…Okay, fine."_

Then came a pounding headache, followed by the floor swooping beneath her. Somehow she ended up flat on her face.

"What's happening?" Molly gasped weakly. She let out a scream as lightning exploded outside and the entire world went dark.

I~I~I~I~I~I

_"What the heck happened?!"_

_"I like, have no idea! Filbert found her."_

_"W-well, I was walking along, eating some cherries, when I heard this creepy scream. I walked into her house and her dandelions were all over the floor and the flowerpot was broken! And she was DEAD!"_

_"She's not dead, she just passed out. Calm down."_

_"Purrl is right. Molly should be fine."_

Molly blinked open her eyes, and the world slid into view. She moaned and turned, greeted by a stabbing pain in her head and chest. Filbert stared at her and squealed loudly. The town's residents and the mayor were in Filbert's cramped house, staring at Molly.

"What happened?" she asked after a minute.

"You fainted or something. And your dandelions broke. You got shards of clay in your chest," Liam replied.

"Ooh." Molly looked down, seeing a rather large white bandage on her feathers. Then another shooting pain went through her skull and she winced. "Did I get some in my head, too?"

"No," Purrl replied. "Why?"

"I have the mother of all headaches," Molly grunted. She wasn't one to complain, so she shut up and stared at the ceiling.

"You scared us!" Butch practically shouted. "We thought you were dead!"

"No we didn't," Purrl and Liam said at the same time. Pippy raced over to Molly.

"I bought this for you," she said, holding up a blue bag.

"What's that?"

"It's all-cure medicine! …Well, sort of. It cures the sniffles and bee stings. But I bet it'll help you!" she said eagerly.

"Alright," Molly said, reaching for it, but Pippy snatched it away.

"You're sick; I have to feed it to you," she said importantly.

"I think she can handle it," Purrl sighed. Pippy ignored her and carefully placed a white pill in Molly's mouth. She swallowed it and coughed, sending pains through her entire body. _I wish I had some water with that._

Liam was eyeing her carefully. "Can I speak with her alone for a second?"

"How?" Butch said grumpily. "It's pouring rain outside and there's no second floor. Anything she hears, we hear."

Liam sighed and turned to Molly.

"Okay. But don't ask me any questions."

Pippy was staring curiously with a smile.

"I remembered," Molly whispered before he could speak. "The dandelions. And the cookies that your mom made."

Liam's eyes widened. His mouth broke into a smile.

But the world was going away again; pulling Molly away, like a mother tearing her child away from danger. Molly struggled to stay. To hold on.

"But I'm not…supposed to remember. My…can't…handle it…"

"What'd she say?" Pippy asked curiously.

"What the heck is she even talking about?" Butch said gruffly. If Molly had been more inhibited, she may have been inclined to respond. But her eyes were closing, her breath fluttering.

"We need…to undo…" Liam began saying something, but it was lost on Molly. Her eyes shut. And her consciousness was dragged away.


	5. Chapter 5

Molly awoke in Filbert's bedroom.

_What am I doing here?_

Confused, Molly observed the room. She'd never been in his house before. Was she dreaming? She heard a creaking sound and saw Liam open the door.

"Oh! Molly! You're awake."

"Uh-huh. What am I doing here?"

Liam laughed. "Nice one. Remembered anything else lately?"

Molly stared at him, confused still. Liam was waiting for a response.

"…Y'know? Remembering? How we met?" Liam said, his voice now more cautious.

"Oh, yeah. Of course I remember that," Molly replied.

Relief washed over Liam's face. "Good. Here, I made you some dandelion tea. In honor of…you know."

Molly took the small cup in her hands and took a sip. It was bitter, but she was so thirsty she didn't mind.

"Yeah, I remember how we met. It was just a day ago, Liam." Molly laughed. "What, don't _you _remember? You came off the train and we all cheered. Pretty hard to forget."

Liam's eyes widened in shock. "Wait…but you told me you remembered the real story."

Molly paused. "Huh?"

Liam's hands dropped to his sides and he lowered his head.

"You…forgot again," he whispered. "I thought you were different. I thought maybe…we had a chance to save you."

Molly looked at her cup. It was vibrating in her hands. She realized after a split second that the cup itself was still; her wings were the ones trembling.

"Well…if you feel better, you ought to get back to your house." his voice was different now, more brisk, more mayoral. "I gotta go. I've set up a yellow bench project and I want to have it done by tomorrow." He turned away and opened the door. "Oh, and a new resident has moved in, if you wanna say hi." The door shut.

Molly sat there and finished her tea. She carefully unwrapped her bandages. She sat on the couch, pondering her latest predicament. Apparently, she had lost memory of something. She tried remembering everything she could before she had woken up. She vaguely recalled spotting a plot for Jacques' new home, but everything after that was foggy. She got up and walked outside. The grass squelched under her feet, showing it had rained recently. Molly weaved her way back to her house, and was stunned to see Purrl inside, making the bed. Molly took in her home; it looked much different.

"Oh, you're back home. I've been the caretaker of your place while you were out; buying furniture and keeping out the cockroaches."

Molly nodded. "Thank you. It looks really nice."

The room indeed looked different. There was a bed now, for starters, which Purrl had just finished making. Second, there was a small brown desk with paper and ink on it. Molly counted up the new furniture. She must've been out for at least day.

"Liam came in and replaced the dandelions for you," she added.

"Replaced? What for?"

"Well, I don't know if you have a severe case of short-term memory or what, but you kind of smashed them on the floor and then passed out," she said drily. She fluffed the pillow one last time and moved towards the door. "If you're feeling well enough to come all the way here, you can take care of your house. See you around." Purrl scooted out and strolled away. Molly stood there, dumbfounded. She had smashed her dandelions and passed out? Perhaps she did have short-term memory. Oh well, she might as well say hi to the new resident.

I~I~I~I~I~I

"Hey…"

"Uh, hi."

Jacques was inside his home, taking a swig out of a bottle of something. He was a navy blue bird, a bit taller than Molly, wearing a red flannel shirt. He had sleepy sea-green eyes and a green beanie. He was also completely wiped out on a black sofa with a metal frame. The fact that he wasn't packed in boxes confirmed that Molly had been passed out for two days.

Jacques drank more and puffed. "Zut alors! This is some pretty weak apple cider. You guys don't have any wine though, kind of sucks. Oh well. Who're you?"

"Molly. Quackidee."

Jacques burst out laughing. "Quackidee?"

Molly paused. "Er…" Truth was, she somewhat always had the urge to say that, but kept it in. Must've popped out that one time.

"No matter, zut alors. Want some apple cider? It's got no-" Jacques hiccuped and chuckled. "-no pep to it. Totally flat. Totally gross. But everyone in this town's kindof flat, 'cept for the feline. She's cute. The dog is trying too hard to be tough. The squirrel…do I even need to say? Heh. Dunno 'bout you. You've been wiped out in the squirrel's house for a while. Doin' something naughty, huh? I know, heh. Been to Club LOL too many times, got a lil' dizzy, woke up in Fuchsia's house, no idea how I got there. Whoops. Heh."

Molly backed away. "Er, his name is Filbert. Also, are you okay? You look pretty tired." _And you sound like you've just been inhaling carbon dioxide._

"Been ridin' on a train all afternoon yesterday and just finished unpacking. I'm exhausted. Thanks for helping a guy out." Another chuckle. "See you 'round, Molly. I need to crash for a lil' while." Jacques yawned, stretched, and began snoring on the couch. Molly watched for a moment, then left the house quietly. She began taking the familiar stroll to Main Street. She decided to explore a little.

The street was very unimpressive, holding only five buildings. One was the small shed that she had went to every day; the Nookling Junction. To the right of that was a building slightly larger with a fenced-off roof area, the Able Sisters. And to the farthest corner was a large, impressive museum. According to Pippy, it had nothing in it, which was rather disappointing. On the left, however, sat a humble post office and Nook's Homes. Anything else on the left had "do not enter" signs, fences, chains, and boards to keep out citizens. In the farthest corner, there was a fenced-off area, which she observed carefully. She wondered about Jacques. He had spoken about a building called Club LOL. She yawned and decided to rest on the bench to the far left. When she'd walked over there, she was surprised to see Liam sitting there. Talking.

"Ugh…what am I gonna do here? Everyone home is dead. I should be dead. Hell, I should've _gotten _the damn Operation! Everyone here seems so happy, so oblivious! It's so unfair, dammit!" Liam threw up his head to the sky in despair. Then he lowered it and sighed, staring off into the ocean uncomprehendingly. "What am I supposed to do here? None of them will ever remember. Am I totally insane? I'm sitting here talking to myself. I hate everything, son of a-"

"Are you alright? You sound pretty frustrated."

Liam leaped up a foot, and whirled around. His face flushed red.

"Er…I'm not crazy," he said first. Then he smiled and gave a nervous laugh. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Uh…I just got here," Molly replied. No point in embarrassing him.

"Well, nice to see you, Molly." Liam turned back to the sea. "Tired?"

"I guess." Molly cupped her elbows (If ducks do indeed have elbows) and pulled them close to her body. "Hey, it's cooling off. Aren't you cold?"

Liam stayed silent, not responding to her.

"Are you cold?" Molly repeated.

"A little, I guess. Time to go home. Want to come with me?" Liam asked, standing up carefully and swinging his arms. Molly shrugged and nodded.

The walk back to Liam's home was uneventful. When he opened the door, he hesitated, and looked at Molly.

"I just kind of want you to think about something," he began quietly. "Who are you?"

He stared at Molly intently. Molly was stunned.

"Come to me when you get the answer."

The door shut.

The wind blew.

The question thrashed around in Molly's mind.

_Who am I?_


	6. Chapter 6

Molly awoke for the third time that night. She groaned in frustration, and gave up on trying to accomplish a good nights rest. Luckily, the sun was rising, and she had to get up anyway. She swung her legs over the large bed and opened the door. Cool morning air blew into her house, inviting itself in. Molly squinted her eyes against the unwelcome houseguest, and swiftly walked outside and shut her door to prevent any other disturbances. The door slammed shut and suddenly Molly remembered she left the key in her house. Molly huffed in annoyance; she had locked herself out in the cold, muggy air.

_Gosh darnit._

Molly sighed and decided to take a walk, maybe go bug-hunting. Halfway around the town, she spotted Liam weeding the ground. He was muttering some choice words at a particularly tricky clover.

"Hey."

"God dammit, this weed is going to drive me-oh, hey." Liam stood up, his hair ruffled. "How're you?"

"Cold and tired. And I locked myself out of my house," Molly replied.

Liam chuckled, that familiar soft laugh that he only gave when Molly was around.

"That sounds crappy. Better tell Nook when his shop opens up." his face contorted into a mask of annoyance. "Nook, that bell-stealing raccoon in an apron. Do you know how much a one-room tiny house costs?"

"Uh…no?" Molly said, wrapping her wings around her body in an attempt to warm up.

"It costs ninety-eight thousand bells. Ninety-eight thousand! How much am I getting paid to weed the town? Zero bells. But I'm bored and Jacques is complaining about the weeds, something about his inner peace, so here I am." Liam huffed, got back down on his knees, and tugged harder at the clovers.

"Ow!"

Liam looked up quickly, rubbing the back of his head. On the ground was a sack of one-thousand bells exactly.

"There. Thanks for weeding the town."

Liam looked stunned for a moment, then took the bag. "Thanks."

Molly turned around and began walking away.

"Hey, can I tell you a story?"

Molly paused and turned around. "Huh?"

"A story."

"Well, okay." Molly awkwardly took her place on the dirt next to Liam.

"Once upon a time, humans were the only species that could talk or wear clothes. If a parrot spoke, or a dog wore a wig, it was because of us. I went to school. There was a girl there who was also named Molly. She even looked a little like you." Liam smiled. "I had a platonic crush on her. All my friends joked about it, but didn't tease me, believe it or not. One day I invited her over." Liam hesitated. His mouth was frowning now. "We became friends. We became best friends. One day, her brother got sick. One day, her brother got very sick. The next day, her brother was gone. Molly was hurt. Molly was very sad about this. So I comforted her. I told her it would be alright."

"Well, the government saw that everyone was getting sick. A plague was going around. Scientists worked day and night and confirmed that this plague would destroy the human race. So the government took almost all the children, the future of the nation, and gave them all an operation."

At the word 'Operation', Molly felt a stabbing pain in her head. She lifted her wings and rubbed her temples. Liam paused and observed her quietly. Then he continued.

"This wasn't any old operation. They decided to simply call it the Operation, since that was what it was. This Operation took humans and turned them into animals."

The world was starting to swoop at Molly's feet. She felt nauseous.

"They lined up children and tested them for the plague. Almost everyone got through. If you tested negative, woohoo, you got to go ahead and get the Operation. If you tested positive…well, sucks for you, you have to stay behind. And die." Liam's voice suddenly went dry and cracked. He hesitated a long time before continuing, and Molly was glad, because black spots were starting to show up in her vision.

"I tested positive." Liam stopped there and abruptly got up. "You alright? You look a little pale."

"I'm really tired," Molly responded. Now that Liam had stopped talking, she was slowly feeling better.

"You better go to Nook's and tell him that you're locked out."

"It's 9AM, Liam."

"Well…the Junction should be open, and they're Nook's nephews. They could probably get him." Liam yawned and started towards his house.

"Oh, another resident moved in, by the way. Name's Biff."

"Biff?" Suddenly Molly gasped and keeled over.

"Molly!" Liam raced over to her. "Are you alright?"

Molly didn't respond at first, her eyes squeezed shut. Then she gasped, "I…don't…know…!".

Liam's eyes narrowed. "Don't pass out. Don't pass out. I didn't tell you everything that happened for you to forget."

"What? That makes no sense." Molly sunk to the ground, her eyes still closed, fighting against the raging pain in her head. Her heart pounded.

"What's going on, lil' hare?" Molly heard a cheerful voice. She dared to crack open an eyelid, and the sun filled her entire vision, feeling ten times brighter than before.

"Wait! Like, WHAT is going on?!" the happy yell from earlier quickly changed into a stunned shout.

"Nothing, Molly's fine," Liam called back.

"I don't feel like it…" Molly grumbled. Suddenly, she felt tendrils pull her down. The lost sleep from the night before was pounding in her mind, and she felt exhaustion take over. She sunk lower, relaxing. The clouds in the sky parted and a warm sun lulled her to sleep. _Time for a nap…_

Hands jolted her back to reality. "Don't pass out! Stay conscious!"

Molly's eyes widened and she took several deep breaths. After a minute or so, she slowly, slowly, sat up.

"Like, what the heck just happened?" Pippy was in Molly's face.

"Er…she was sitting down and got up too fast," Liam replied.

"Oh, okay!" Pippy beamed at Molly. "I'm going fishing, wanna come?"

"I'd love to, but…I don't have a rod," Molly lied. Truthfully, the last thing she wanted to do was listen to the rabbit whine about being unable to catch anything.

"Aw." Pippy temporarily drooped, then jumped up again. "Oh well! See you around!" She skipped off to the beach.

"Liam…what just-"

"I'll explain it later. You can't handle the truth right now." Molly opened her mouth to object, but Liam shook his head. "No, I mean it literally. If I told you, you'd pass out."

"Is it that bad?" Molly said, her stomach lurching.

Liam didn't reply. "I'm going to get Nook to open your door. Stay here, and do _not _fall asleep." With that, he was off.

Molly sat there, puzzling over what just happened. Was she ill? Or-

And then the memories came pouring in, one by one.

_"I mean, I had nightmares. About you. And everyone in this village. And the whole concept. But you don't know why, do you?"_

_"Remember yourself! You used to love to draw, remember? Chalk was your favorite! You loved to bake cookies. You hated dust and liked cleaning your room. You had toys and your best friend was Peanut. Don't you remember, Molly_ _Hills?!"_

_"Hey! You! Look what I got!"_

_"Liam! Stop! My friends are around. They're gonna think you're my boyfriend or something gross. I don't even know you."_

_"But look. Seriously."_

"It was…a dandelion," Molly whispered. Her eyelids drooped.

_"Wanna come over to my house? I have a whole ton in the backyard."_

_"…It's really pretty. But…"_

_"My mom bakes the best cookies ever."_

_"…Okay, fine."_

Molly gasped, panting in the effort to stay awake.

"Stay awake, don't pass out, stay conscious, stay here…," Molly huffed. Her efforts, while brave, were futile. She shut her eyes. The headache returned, hammering against her head. It felt like there was someone in her brain, screaming and pounding the walls, trying to escape.

"Liam…" Molly called weakly, faintly. "Liam…I'm going to…pass out," Molly tensed, and relaxed.

_Good night._

And then a force was thrown upon her, so sudden she instantly jerked awake with a sputter.

"'Ey there, Molly. Y'seemed in a bit of a pickle here. You're all right, right? Am I right?"

Molly opened her eyes. Jacques was sitting on top of her.

"What the heck are you doing?" Molly grunted.

"Dunno. You looked pretty yuck, so I said, 'Ey, she might need some help."

"You're not helping." Despite the words, Molly knew Jacques had kept her awake. She had a terrible feeling that if she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake up, what with the racket Liam was making.

"Righ', righ'. Heh."

"Get off me."

"Surrrrrrrre." Jacques got up and snickered. "Good morning, by the way. Nice town." With that, he strolled off. Molly sat up.

_I need to figure out what's going on. Something's not right here._


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! Another author's note here! **

**Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the reviews, I'm really glad so many people appreciate my story! I just want to know though…would you guys appreciate it if this was a short and sweet story? Or would you like a hella long multi-chapter fanfic? xD I can't decide how I want it to end…I have two good ideas, but they both have big flaws. D: Oh well, I bet nobody cares; enough from me! Onto the story!**

"Great to meetcha! My names Biff!"

Biff, a brown-and-cream colored hippo, pumped Molly's hand (wing?) up and down.

"An' I love working out! And racin', squirt!" he smiled a large, toothy grin. "An' who're you?"

"Uh..I'm Molly," Molly replied. "Nice to meet you."

"Ye-haa!" Biff pumped his fists. "Maybe we can run around town together someday! You look like you'd run pretty fast!" he flexed his biceps. "But you're a lil' scrawny. We need to design a work out regimen!"

"Er, that sounds nice. I guess," Molly stuttered. "So, er…I have some…errands to run. See you around!" Molly promptly exited the house. She couldn't help but sigh. Jacques was bad enough, but now this? It seemed all the residents were all quite…_exotic, _to say the least. Molly seemed to be the only normal one. Oddly, the words _normal _and _Biff _were making her head swim. She shook herself and went to her house, deciding to take a nap.

Dreams swarmed her thoughts that night, but she only had one she remembered. It was Liam, standing on an unfamiliar field. He looked at Molly and smiled. Molly felt weird in this dream; her wings felt oddly bare, and when a cool, pleasing breeze blew, the feeling of her feathers ruffling was not there. Liam leaned in.

Molly paused, and the words leapt from her mouth before she could stop them.

"I only want to be friends."

Liam paused, his eyes widened. "I wasn't going to kiss you."

Molly felt a smile across her face. Confusion swept over her. It was as if someone was controlling her; no, it was like she was merely watching inside this person's body.

_Person?_

Molly wished to look down at her hands and see if it was true-if she was human-but for some reason, her head wouldn't look down.

"I…wanted to tell you something." Liam leaned in closer. His lip brushed her ear and Molly tensed. _What the heck!_

"My dad works for the government, you know? And, well, I found out through some papers under his desk…that the Operation isn't just to save us. They're looking for a new world, Molly!" He pulled back, his eyes shining. "There was a lot of weird stuff about holes and stuff, but…one part said that-"

Molly awoke with a jolt.

_Ow ow ow ow._

It felt like a headache had broken into Molly's house, jumped into her brain, and thrown a New Years party complete with sledgehammers and wrecking balls.

Molly rubbed her temples, and thought about her brain's newest offering. An odd part of her dream was that it wasn't hazy, or foggy, or weird like most dreams. It felt like a memory, almost; half-real, but so long ago you wonder _did that really happen?_

"I'm going crazy," Molly grumbled. Of course it wasn't a memory. Was she insane? She forced herself up, and took some of the medicine she kept in her classical wardrobe. Then she took a deep breath and picked up the violin she had received from Liam (for unknown reasons), and picked up the bow.

The house was dead silent.

Molly closed her eyes.

And the violin sang.

Molly drew the bow across the strings, feeling the sound pour out. Her body relaxed, the headache backed off, as her wings acted on their own.

The sound was not even impressing Molly. She was in another dimension; a violet-tinted world were a rainbow occasionally appeared where a note hit high, or rushing streams where the notes went low.

Molly didn't even know she was singing until she heard her voice crack. She cleared her throat, not even pausing on the violin, and started again. She explored the purplish realm, drank the low-note water and observed the high-note rainbows, and inhaled everything in between; the G flowers, the D rocks; the A clouds and the E trees.

In a second, the world shattered, the bow screeched to a stop, her voice cut off by a beat. An insistent knocking at the door.

Molly gasped, as if surfacing from underwater.

_I can play the violin?!_

This realization hit Molly like a truck and she started trembling. She forced herself to stop (or at least tried) and answered the door.

"Oh, Liam, hey-"

"Was that you playing?" he asked, his eyes wide. "The violin?"

"Hello to you too," Molly muttered. Raising her voice, she said, "Yes, that was me. Guilty as charged."

"How-I thought-you…"

"Yeah, I had no idea I could play either. Did…it sound okay?" Molly asked, rather shyly.

"Okay?!" Liam's eyes widened further. "That was…incredible." His eyes were shining, large as pie bowls. Just like in her dream.

"It was the same piece you played…last year…at the concert." his eyes were shining unnaturally now; was he…

"Liam," Molly ventured cautiously, "are you…crying?"

"Shit," Liam sniffed. "No."

"What?"

"What?"

"What was that you said before?"

"Uhh, the concert?" Liam shifted his feet.

"No, right before you said 'no.'"

Liam's face flushed red.

"Er, nothing," Liam stuttered. "It's…kind of…not nice to say."

"What, shit?"

"Don't say that!" he broke off into laughter. "Oh my god, a little brown duck just cussed at me, I think I've finally lost it!" Molly just stared at him, making him laugh harder.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Uh, I guess I came to say nice playing skills."

"Well, thanks, quackidee." Molly slapped her forehead. "Ugh, did I say that again? It's starting to drive me crazy. I need a new catchphrase."

"How about…" Liam smiled. "How about…Hills?"

"What? Hills? That's a weird-"

"I dunno. I think it…fits you." Liam didn't explain further. Molly opened her mouth (bill?), wanting to tell him about her dream, but the memory of him leaning in, his closeness, his lips touching her ear; it shut her up. **(AN: Don't get any ideas, you dirty-minded butts. Ones a duck and ones a human. Granted, Avery dated Snake…Oh nevermind…)**

"Well, see you around, Molly." he turned to leave, then stopped.

Molly stepped out of her house and shut the door, making sure to keep the key with her this time. Something brushed her feathers. She turned quickly.

"Hey, I-How did you play that violin?"

"Do you have a violin obsession?"

"No, I mean…you don't know how to play. At least, you don't now. You used to."

"When? What are you-" Molly lurched back. The headache was returning. "Every time I talk to you, I get a headache. It's weird." Molly froze, realizing how cruel that sounded out loud. "Oh, I didn't mean…you don't talk a lot…not that I was implyin-"

"I get it. Don't worry." Liam grinned. "And I know why, too. But I can't tell you now, it'd probably…knock you out or something. Gotta take it slow." Liam nodded quickly, and waved.

"See you around for real this time," he called. "I gotta go. Filbert's come down with a cold, I'm gonna get him some medicine."

Molly waved faintly. She stared at his back, wondering why he didn't tell her the reason behind her headaches, the reason behind her suddenly becoming Paganini.

She decided to ignore it.

For now.

**Guess what, I don't play the violin, I'm actually a piano player! I had to search up like three things to write this chapter ._. Oh well! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hullo, quick authors note here. In case anyone noticed, you might have seen my new cover for the story! My sister made it for me. If you want to check her out, her dA is Kimikohi (I'd post a link, but Fanfiction doesn't like links very much). Onto the story... (And guess what, this chapter is twice as long as normal! And something actually HAPPENS!)**

Molly awoke feeling better rested than normal. She sat up, stretched, and yawned. She leapt out of bed and prepared herself a breakfast of cherries and some bananas that Liam had received from an island and was carefully growing on the beach. It was sweet and delicious, and she found herself humming the tune of K.K. Ballad, while eyeing the violin. _No more of that, _she thought. _No more paranormal stuff. No more headaches. I'm sick of it._ She took the violin and shoved it in her wardrobe. She pulled out her fishing rod. _I'm going to be a normal villager. I'm gonna dig up fossils, eat some cherries, and fish for fish. Treat Liam as the mayor, not a close friend. In fact, speaking of friends, I've been kind of cold to everyone lately. I think I'll pay Pippy a visit._

Molly took her rod and exited the house, smiling at the world. She strolled to Pippy's house. Smoke billowed from the chimney. Molly knocked three times and waited. The door flung open.

"Hey there, li'l hare! What's up?"

"Sorry for coming so early. I was bored and wanted to chat. I haven't talked to you lately."

"Awesome! Come on in!" Pippy gestured madly into her house, and Molly obeyed.

"Nice place you have," Molly said in wonder. She observed the fancy kitchen island and chaise lounge.

"That kitchen was a gift from Nook, Timmy told me. He said that they don't sell those anymore and it's real rare," Pippy said importantly.

"The music's nice too," Molly replied, taking in the house,

"Oh, yeah! I love to dance to it! Want to dance with me? We can drink punch! Or orange juice! Hmm, Solaris doesn't have oranges, though. Ooh! How about cran-cherry punch? Urgh, we don't have cranberries, either. Oh well! We can always…" the rabbit talked endlessly, and Molly was getting dizzy.

"Why don't we just…bake a pie?" Molly bursted.

"OOOOOOOOOH! You got the right idea, li'l hare! A pie! A banana pie! An _upside-down banana cream pie_!" Pippy jumped up and down. "I'll get the dry ingredients, you can get the wet ones. Don't worry, I don't mind you looking through my stuff!" Pippy rocketed off to her fridge. Molly walked over more slowly, and took out some eggs. Pippy sang some kind of song while picking up the flour.

"That sounds nice, where's it from?" Molly asked.

"From?" Pippy's face contorted into confusion. "…Y'know…I'm not sure…I think it's…" Pippy trailed off, and for the rest of the ingredient-gathering, she stayed silent. She didn't say anything until the batter was in the oven.

"Thanks for coming over, Molly. It was fun!" the old cheer was back in her voice.

"Yeah, it was fun to be here. I ought to get going though."

"Not until the pie's done!" Pippy pouted.

"Alright," Molly replied.

They watched TV until the oven _dinged! _and raced over, taking in the wonderful smell. Just then, the door produced a familiar knocking noise.

"I'll get it!" Molly said, already running for the door. Her morning with Pippy made her bubbly and peppier than normal. To her surprise, Liam was standing there.

"Molly?" he said in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

"We just baked a pie!" Pippy yelled from the back of the house. "Want some?"

"No thanks. Smells great, though!" Liam called back. "I caught that goldfish you wanted."

"EEEEEEE!" Pippy raced to Liam and took the fishbowl from his hands. "I think I'll name him…" Pippy paused. "…Twinkle Twinkle. Twinkle for short," Pippy said finally.

_Those words sound familiar, _Molly thought. Then she recalled the song Pippy sang earlier; the lyrics had been _twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are._

"T-that's a nice name," Liam stammered.

"Here, I gotta thank you," Pippy insisted. "Here." Pippy placed three small cubes of pie in his hand.

"Oh, thanks." he ate one and chewed contentedly. A smile spread on his face. "Tastes like home."

"That's good, right?" Pippy asked worriedly.

"Definitely. It's the best taste of all."

Pippy broke into a grin.

"Ohmygosh, really? I've never baked with someone else, but Molly is super good at it! I was just sooo sick of cherry pie, and I'm really glad you got those bananas from that island! I wonder what home tastes like. OH. MY. GOSH. Have you like, eaten a HOUSE before?! Ha! Just kidding. But really, you haven't eaten a hou-"

"Molly, can I talk to you for a second?" Liam interrupted.

"What? Sure." Molly was too busy eyeing those delicious banana-cream-pie-cubes.

As if reading her mind, Pippy plopped three into Molly's hands (wings).

Molly grinned at her, and left the house.

"What now?" Molly asked, popping a cube into her mouth.

"So, uh, I want to know if you've remembered anything. That probably sounds weird. Or if-"

"You know what, Liam?" Molly snapped. "I don't care. I'm sick of you stalking me. Every time we meet up, you always go on about 'remembering' and these weird stories, and I'm sick of it. I just want to be a normal villager here. Everywhere I turn, you're there. From now on, I'm just a resident, and you're the mayor. Period."

Liam's face hardened, and Molly suddenly regretted her words. She had been too harsh. But Liam's next words surprised her.

"You want the whole story?" he said coldly. "Fine. I'll tell you the whole story." Molly had intended to stick to her resolve, but she had so many unanswered questions that she was curious.

"Pippy, I need to talk with Molly for a little while. Is it okay if I take her?" he called into the house.

"Totally! In fact, I think Jacques should be coming over in…EEEEK! Like, five minutes! I've totally, like, gotta set up, li'l hare!" Liam sighed and shut the door.

He grabbed her wing. "Come on. Lets get to the beach. Nobody else can hear this." Molly tensed. She was nervous now.

He led her to the beach, and checked no one was there.

Liam turned back to Molly. His eyes seemed to burn. His first sentence, the superficial sentence, not even deep into the story, only scraping the tip of the iceberg; stunned Molly, and was unsure if she could be the 'normal citizen' she wanted to be with this information.

"You used to be a human."

"_WHAT?!" _Molly yelled. Then she whirled around, hoping no one heard.

"You were a human. Everyone in this village used to be a human. Remember that story I told you when I was weeding the town? It was true. It wasn't just a story. And the other Molly I was talking about…was you."

Molly stared at him, dumbfounded. He launched into an explanation.

"The Operation was performed to lock away memories in a far part of your brain, not erase them. In order to erase them, it would involve actually removing part of your brain, and nobody wanted to risk that." Liam picked up a stick and drew a diagram in the sand. It was a vertical line; on the right side was a triangle, on the left was a circle.

"This circle represents your memories," Liam said, "and the triangle represents the memories you've made while living in Solaris. The line represents the medicine."

"The wh-" Molly started, but Liam held up a finger.

"The medicine is incredibly high-tech. It treats your old memories-your circle-as a virus. If a memory leaks through the barrier, the medicine senses it, and starts reacting to it. That's the reason behind your headaches," Liam explained. Molly listened in wonderment. "However, if too many memories start flowing in at once, the medicine freaks out and knocks you out. If you're not awake, you can't remember things, so the medicine repairs the hole you broke in the barrier."

"Lets say I want to transfer your memories over to the other side. If I start telling you about your old life, forcing you to remember, it'll be too much. You'll get knocked out, and you'll forget everything I told you."

"That's what happened the first time, right?" Molly asked.

"Yep. I started telling you all these things about your old life, and all that stuff happened. Now I know we have to go slowly if we want to bring all your memories back."

"Why would I want them back?"

"Because once all the memories are safely on the other side, the Operation will undo itself."

"Does that mean…" Molly choked out, unable to finish.

"Yes," Liam whispered. "You'll be human again."

Molly tensed and began shivering. _A human! I'll be a human…_

"Thats my plan," Liam continued. "Now…" he erased the line, and drew a thick wall instead. "…lets treat the medicine as a wall. Lets pretend I'm your memories. I live on the circle, you live on the triangle. I want to see you, so my plan is to start hammering on the wall until I can fit through it and see you."

Molly wished he would stop. Her head was swimming, and now that she understood what that meant, she was nervous to pay attention. She didn't want to forget all this information.

"If I hammer the hell out of that wall, you'll be like 'What the heck are you doing to my wall?' and you'll make me go away and repair the wall."

"I wouldn't do that."

"I think you would, if I got an axe and started banging on your house in the middle of the night. Anyway, if I hammer at it slowly, and make small holes, you won't notice until the hole is big enough for me to go through. Same with the medicine. If we transfer a very small memory at a time, the medicine wont sense it; it isn't sensitive enough." he let out a huge breath. "There. Satisfied?"

"How the heck do you KNOW all that stuff?" Molly blurted out.

"I snooped. My dad worked in the government, and he got all the reports on it. I found the papers and emails under his desk."

Molly froze. Breathing was hard. "That's…true?"

"True? Did someone tell you?" Liam said incredulously.

"No. It was a dream." Reality hit Molly and she felt sick. "It was a memory, Liam. Me and you…on a field…you told me that. Something about new realities and worlds?"

Liam's face turned pink. "Oh…that…" he was silent for a moment. Then his head shot up and Molly jumped.

"I forgot about the whole different worlds thing!" Liam shouted. He lowered his voice. "That's a pretty important bit. But I don't think I can tell it to you yet. I've already said too much. You're probably on the verge of passing out." Liam sighed. "You should go do normal stuff."

"Can I take a nap?"

"No way. If you do, you'll still forget. It doesn't have to be forced."

"Oh." Molly noticed that she had left the upside-down banana cream pie cubes in her wings, and now the cream was melting all over her feathers.

"Ew. I guess I'll take a bath," she said, popping the last cubes in her mouth.

"Right. See you around, Molly." Liam got up and slowly walked away. Molly viewed him in a completely different light now. Gone was the human boy who didn't belong here, gone was the frustrated kid who talked to himself. Now, there was a person who had spent a years of time as Molly's friend, months of chats and nights to go out to ice cream, weeks of sleepovers, days of parties.

And Molly remembered none of it.

I~I~I~I~I~I

Molly tentatively reached for the violin.

_Just take it, _she told herself. _It's not like you'll ever be able to be normal. _

Molly tried to imagine herself as a human, but it seemed too utterly unnatural. A duck is what Molly felt like. _It's just the medicine telling you that._

Molly picked up the violin and unconsciously began playing. This time, instead of losing herself, she payed attention to the music.

_Listen, Molly. Do you remember playing this piece? Do you remember practicing it?_

Molly closed her eyes, the music slowing. A memory was trying to break through the barrier; Molly urged it on. She could feel it, tickling her mind as it tried to escape its prison.

Bits and pieces of a memory, a dream, perhaps, came floating to her. Not a full sequence, just flakes of snow in a blizzard. A crowd, watching expectantly. A deep breath. Liam's smile and a thumbs-up. Thundering applause. A big grin.

Molly gasped and fell back onto the bed, the violin screeching to a halt. That one memory had squeezed past, and now all the others wanted to join it. Molly pressed her wings against her temple to fight against them. In stark contrast to just a second ago, instead of trying to help the memories along, she was resisting them. _You're going to have to wait another day, old Molly. I can't remember now. It's too much…_

In a minute, the memories stopped fighting, and hung back. Molly paused, waiting for the headache to return, the aching drowsiness. But it was done. For now.

Molly sat on her bed for a while, watching the slow arc of the sun. Normally, she'd like to digest what just happened, but she knew better. She had to resist or else she'd pass out; she had to convince the medicine she was complying with it.

Shakily, Molly stood up and took a deep breath. Even if it felt unnatural, even if the headaches were too painful, even if she did end up passing out, she would follow through. She would become human again. In the end, it would all be worth it.

Hopefully.


	9. Chapter 9

Molly awoke, a scream leaving her beak. She gasped, her wings shaking. It took her a minute to realize it had been a dream.

Molly let out a shuddering breath and rocked back and forth. She didn't move for a long time.

In her dream, Molly had watched the doctors perform the Operation on Liam. He kept begging for help, even though he was supposed to be anesthetized, but Molly couldn't move her feet. His screams had been reduced to painful whimpers and the occasional _please._ When he had sat up, Molly took one glimpse of his face; a patchwork of fur and feathers and skin; a beak, hooves, fangs, and a long tail. Then she had awoken.

Finally, Molly stood up. She shook herself. _On three, you stop being a wuss. One, two, three._

Molly did her usual daily routine of preparing her breakfast and playing a quick tune on the violin. She then went outside, surprised to see everyone awake.

"Hey!" Pippy called cheerfully, bouncing over to Molly. "You've been asleep all day! Someone new moved in! I gotta introduce you."

Pippy dragged Molly into a quaint house, Molly still blinking sleep from her eyes.

Inside was a red-and-black dog, busily opening packages and moving furniture.

"Oh! Hey, what what!" She grinned and shook Molly's wing.

"I'm Cherry!"

"Helllo. I'm Molly."

"The town is great, what what! I haven't seen the mayor around, though."

"Oh, he's out doing mayoral business or something at another town," Pippy replied. Molly tensed. "Really?"

"Yup," Pippy said happily. "It's so nice that he's working so hard to fix up the town. I asked him to build an illuminated heart, and he said he'd think about it." Pippy's face turned a shade red. "I mean…Jacques is…a really cool guy. I think I'd like to…take him…I dunno." Molly was stunned. For the first time, Pippy was actually out of words.

"Ooh, looks like freckle-bunny has a crush!" Cherry sang.

"Eeek! I, like, totally do not!"

Molly carefully exited the building, leaving the two spunky girls to argue. Molly ventured to Main Street and, to her surprise, noticed a large building called "Club LOL". Closer inspection showed that the club was closed, however.

Molly strolled to the side of the town and sat on the bench and stared at the rolling clouds.

_Why should you believe Liam? You're a duck. You've always been a duck. How could doctors turn a human into a duck? It's simply impossible._

Molly shook her head. "No. You're just the medicine talking to me."

_Medicine can't talk, you dumb duck. It's called logic._

Molly pondered this. "Why would Liam lie to me? And it explained all the…stuff."

_Not really. It seems way too bogus. _

"Well…maybe…" Molly murmured. When she thought about it, it DID sound rather farfetched.

"Who're you talking to?"

Molly turned and did a double take. There was Liam, but in a straw hat and an aloha shirt and shorts, with sunglasses to top off the look.

"Uh, I'm not crazy," Molly said quickly. Liam's face split into a grin, probably remembering the same thing happening a million years ago.

"Pippy told me you were out on mayoral business, not plopping your lazy butt onto the beach."

"Hey, the old mayor works at the island. I talked to him. While bashing a machine with a hammer."

"What?"

"Nothing." Liam smiled. "Wanna hear the best part?"

"What, about the beach?"

"Nah, something cooler. Y'know, breaking reality and opening portals in new dimensions. The thing I forgot to tell you yesterday."

"That sounds even phonier than me being a human with medicine in my brain fighting my memories."

"Mhm. Wanna hear it?"

"Hit me with your best shot." Molly folded her wings and listened.

"This is gonna be real complicated. I hope your duck-brain can handle it." Liam ruffled the feathers on her head with his hand. "Okay, so, have you ever heard the saying 'the fabric of reality'?" Liam began.

"Mhm."

"Well, that's true. Realities are blankets. What happens after you use a blanket for a while? It gets holes in it. Dimensions are cloths, stacked on top of each other. When the top blanket gets a hole, it's a portal to the dimension underneath. If you beat up a blanket, you can punch holes into it. Thats what the train was doing. So basically, we aren't super far away…we're in an entire different realm."

"That's fake," Molly finished. "I was willing to believe I used to be a human, and that the entire race is dead, and there's evil stuff in my brain, but that's a step too far. Universes aren't literally blankets."

To her surprise, Liam just shrugged. "I don't get it either. I'm just reciting what I read. If you go real fast, you can make a portal." Liam's eyes shone like they did when he got an idea. "I want to find a portal back home."

Molly looked at him. "I think you're totally crazy."

Liam smiled tiredly. "Couldn't I say the same to you?"

Molly paused for a second.

"I'm gonna go change. I smell like fish." Liam stood up and stretched. "So, uh, I guess it's time."

"Time for what?"

"I've explained everything. We can start bringing back your memories."

"Right." Molly felt uncomfortable for some reason. "But Liam…aren't I supposed to, I dunno, FEEL like a human?"

"What?" Liam asked.

"I just feel like a duck. It's not like, 'oh, I was a human, that makes sense'; or 'hey! now that I think about it, I totally feel like a human!' I just feel like…a duck," she repeated.

Liam laughed. His laugh was so familiar. Short, loud, and cheerful. "Thats because being a human isn't a feeling, Molly. Being a duck probably isn't a feeling either. You don't feel any different because all along you've been _you_. A human or duck isn't what you are; you're Molly." he leaned down and hugged her, his next words soft. "And I'd like it to stay that way."

The wind whistled softly, crossing through the trees.

"You really do smell like fish," Molly said after a while. It wasn't exactly true, but she needed to break the tension or awkwardness or whatever was crackling in the non- existent space between them.

"Right." Liam stood up, his face a shade red. "Stay cool." he gave a thumbs-up, attempted to wink, then gave an exaggerated yell when a leaf slapped him in the face.

Molly grinned and giggled as he took the leaf off, a mock look of horror and confusion on his face. He laughed, too, then took off. Molly sat on the bench for a while, still smiling. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue.

"You!"

Molly whirled around, stunned to see two alligators dressed up in suits. Last thing she remembered, no alligator lived in Solaris, let alone two.

The first one, a green-scaled one, grabbed one of her wings. The other, a black, shining reptile, grabbed the other.

"Hey!" Molly yelped. "Whats this about?!"

"You're corrupt," the black one said gruffly, his grip tightening. He gave no further explanation. They began dragging her.

"Ow! Hey! Stop!" Molly yelled, fighting to escape.

"You're a duck, kid. We're government-trained gators. Quit resisting," the green one snapped.

"Geez, Don. Be easy on her. Her species ain't that smart." the two gators guffawed.

"Shut UP!" Molly screamed. Don, the black alligator, smacked his scaly claws over her beak. She let out muffled shrieks.

"She's a squealer, ain't she?"

"Got that right, Terry."

Molly wrenched her beak free for a second, and put all the air in her lungs into one scream.

"LIAM!" Terry clocked her on the head and Don jammed his fist into her throat. Molly choked, gasping and dizzy. The world swooped.

"Can't believe it took us this long," Don puffed. "Imagine what woulda happened if the runt's plan worked!"

"Oh, yeah. Better grab him, too, huh?"

"We have our orders, bud. Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Let me go," Molly whimpered. She had no energy to struggle, her head hammering.

"We can't, kid. You're a slippery one, gotta give it to you," Terry said with a chuckle.

The alligators dragged her towards the train station. Molly closed her eyes.

_Think, think, think… _This was difficult, as she could feel the lump rising on her head from the generous head-bump, courtesy of Terry. _There…has to be a way…_

The only plan she could formulate was to get help, which was already painfully obvious. She struggled to look around, and noticed not a soul was outside. Strange.

"Hey, kid, it's the annual Stay-Inside-Your-House festival," Terry said in a mocking voice, pointing to the billboard. In very alligator-looking handwriting, it said the above message.

"These animals do anything we tell em to!" Don exclaimed. "Except this one, 'course."

"Hey! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

A shriek of fury came from behind her. Molly didn't have to look. _Liam._

She felt the alligator's grip on her falter. She wrenched free, struggling to turn, the world dipping below her. She rubbed her head. _Darnit…darnit…concussion…_

One thing jolted her awake. Liam was _wrestling the alligators. _Don whipped out an evil-looking black stick and pointed it to Liam. Electricity shot from it, and Liam suddenly jerked, his eyes rolling back. Molly let out a strangled shriek, reaching for him.

"Don't touch him! Don't…he's my…friend…"

Liam's body convulsed and curled up on the ground. Don pointed the item towards her, a deadly glow in his eyes.

"I'm feeling like havin' some roasted chicken, Don, how about you?" Terry chuckled.

"Aw, don't be so racist, man. She's a duck." Don's alligator lips curled into a cruel smile.

And he pulled the trigger.

Molly paused to scream, but something entered her body. It felt like a monster, a raging beast, instantly taking her nerves and playing with them like toys. She jerked, every function going haywire, all thoughts leaving her mind. She crumpled to the ground, spasms going through her wings, breathing suddenly becoming as impressive a feat as walking on water.

And then everything went black.

…**Whats this? Something actually happened? There are actually VILLAINS in this story?! O_o Who would've thought!**


	10. Chapter 10

Molly awoke to pitch blackness. She reached out her wings instinctively, trying to feel her surroundings. Instantly she felt a long pole of metal. In wonder, she felt the little room she was in, covered in metallic poles.

A cage.

She carefully tried to stand up, but the cage wasn't large enough.

"Liam?" she whispered softly. She heard a shifting noise.

"Molly?" came the weak reply. Flooded with relief, she pushed her wing through the bars.

"Put your arm out. Can you feel my feathers?" Molly whispered. After a moment, she felt something brush her wing, and she shivered.

"Yes," Liam replied. "Any idea where we are?"

"Well, obviously, cages. Thats all I got."

Then he groaned.

"Liam?" Molly gasped.

"That wasn't me," Liam said slowly, softly.

Molly turned, still unable to see, straining her ears.

"You two…be quiet…" came the gravelly, painful voice.

"Who're you?" Liam asked, ignoring his plea.

"The name's Chief." he coughed, and there was a shifting noise. "Hey, there's new ones. Wake up, kid!"

Another moan. Molly trembled. What went on in this place?

"New…ones?" came a squeaky, dulled-down voice. Every feather on Molly's body stood on end.

"Peanut?" she gasped. "Peanut, what are you doing here?"

"Molly? Is that you?" she coughed, and gasped, "Molly! Molly, what are you doing here?!" she spluttered, repeating Molly's question.

"She's corrupt, obviously," Chief replied.

"Thats what they said," Molly whispered. "But I don't get it."

"It means you're resistant to the medicine," Chief grunted.

"No I'm not. That medicine has knocked me out and gave me more headaches than I can count."

"You're still resistant. Most other animals have absolutely no way of ever remembering anything. We can." Chief chuckled. "And that pisses of the government."

"Whats gonna happen to us?" Liam asked.

"They'll perform the Operation on you again," Peanut answered.

"I never took the Operation," Liam hissed. "I'm a human."

Dead silence.

"What?" Chief laughed. "Thats crazy talk. The humans are dead."

"He is," Molly replied. "He's the only one left."

"Then they'll just do the Operation on you. No problem."

"That can't happen!" Molly gasped. "We have to escape!"

"Escape? Kid, we've been here for days, do you think we haven't been trying? And before you ask, no, we have no idea when they plan to take us out of here and do the damn Operation."

As if on cue, the lights flickered on and shimmered dimly. Molly squinted through her cage and saw Chief. He was an orange-and-white wolf wearing a dirty shirt. From here she couldn't see the pattern on it. Her gaze shifted, and her heart skipped a beat when she spotted Peanut. It _was _her! Her fur was matted and her eyes were scared, but she was here. Molly turned and saw Liam, hunched in his cage designed for animals.

A fancier looking alligator, dressed in a white coat, strolled over to Peanut's cage. She squeezed against the back wall, her eyes huge and terrified. The alligator opened the cage, and, whistling, took her out.

"Nooo!" Peanut shrieked. "Let me go! Let me gooo!"

"Peanut!" Molly wailed.

"Be quiet," Chief whispered. "No point. I tried. I tried to save Freya…" Tears came to his eyes. "There's nothing we can do…"

Peanut's stubby arms reached out, her eyes locking with Molly's.

"_HELP ME!" _she shrieked, her hands spreading out, begging for her. Molly stared back, feeling so helpless, so useless.

The alligator carried her out, a vial in his hand. It was full of clear liquid that came from the gummy bears. It became clear. He was going to do the Operation, remove every shred of Peanut so she never returned, an empty soul filling a Peppy template.

"NO!" Molly screeched in a voice that wasn't her own. Rage filled her. She threw herself against the bars. "That's my friend! She's my friend! Don't hurt her!"

The door slammed shut, and a loud laugh came from behind it.

"We have to help her," Molly gasped, hysterical. "We need to…"

"We can't, Molly," Liam breathed. "Its too late. We failed. I should've known they'd be tracking us…"

"No! No, it is NOT too late! You chumps can whine and cry all day long in your stupid cages, but I'm helping my friend!" Molly spat.

"Whats the point? You don't even remember her," Chief said, his voice exhausted.

"Shut up!" Molly looked around wildly. There had to be a way. She could still hear Peanut's screams behind the door. Molly fell back, shivering. Liam was dead silent, staring at the door, his eyes defeated. Chief was curled up, and appeared to be sleeping. Molly felt her rage still spiking up in her body, but she felt too broken to address it. Peanut, her friend, was being taken away to be washed out; worse, was that her brain decided to pick _now _of all times to return all her memories of Peanut; ice cream in the shadows in the middle of summer; pool parties; sleepovers. The door clicked open and a large, brown alligator waddled in. He shifted to Molly's cage.

"I'm here to get you out," he hissed. "Don't say anything. Just follow me, okay?" he unlocked her lock and moved on to Chief.

Ignoring his plea, she glared at him. "What are you doing? Is this a trap? You're on their side!"

"Actually, I'm not," the alligator whispered. "The government created us to last exactly five years. In that time period we had to collect all you corrupt folks and re-do the Operation."

_This must be some sort of trick. He just handed all that information to me._

"Oh yeah? And what happens after that five years?"

"We die," the alligator replied briskly. "Our purpose is to weed out you corruptions. Not to live or anything. Name's Alfonso. Nice to meet you, Molly. We've heard lots about you."

"How do you know-" Molly decided not to ask. The alligators probably all had files on her anyway. Alfonso looked at Liam and flinched. He stared for a moment and slowly began working on his lock.

"Hurry up," Chief growled. "We have to go!"

Liam popped out of his cage, stood up, and stretched.

Alfonso gripped Molly's wing and guided her towards the door on the other side of the room. Molly hadn't noticed it; her cage hadn't allowed her to.

"Wait!" Molly hissed. "Peanut!"

"Screw Peanut," Chief snapped. "We gotta get out!"

"_Screw Peanut?!" _Molly repeated. "Are you insane? We have to help her! She's…she's…one of us!"

Alfonso looked back towards the door. "It's too late. They're probably all up in her brain. If we tried to grab her, all we'd do is leave her with a nice big hole in her head."

"We have to try!" Molly wailed. "I can't just leave her behind! I have too many memories of her! She was my best friend!"

"Was," Chief grunted, but Molly wrenched herself from Alfonso's grip and lunged for the door, creaking it open. She spotted Peanut lying on the bed, completely alone, with no restraints. Easy. Too easy.

"Peanut!" Molly hissed. "Peanut, we're gonna save you!"

Peanut looked at Molly blankly. "Save?"

"Yes! They haven't done it yet! I don't know why but…oh for crying out loud! Come over here!"

"Do what? Whats going on? Who are you?" Peanut looked at Molly, her head tilted. "Well, my name's Peanut. I really like nuts. And cake. And volleyball, but now I'm more into flamenco dancing. I'm not that great at it, but-"

_No… _Molly stared at Peanut, dumbfounded. _They completely redid the Operation in just a few minutes. How is that possible?_

"So, whats your name?"

Molly gripped Peanut hard.

"We're here to save you, Peanut," Molly hissed. "And_ my name is Molly!_"

The door flung open. Molly whirled around, expecting Alfonso or Chief, yelling at her to hurry.

Instead it was a gigantic, scaly creature, larger than a normal alligator. He crossed his arms.

Behind him, lay Liam, unconscious. The gator picked up a black stick.

"Come here," he said quietly. Molly looked at the object. Her insides cramped in horror at the look of it. He quietly pressed the barrel of it to Liam's temple.

"Need I repeat myself?" he asked with a raised gator-eyebrow.

The black stick formed a name to Molly.

_A gun._


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy 2 month anniversary, Molly! 8D **

**off topic: Pashmina left me without warning yesterday. And I figured out how to put the line thingamabob in my stories! It took me forever to figure it out, but…yeah, lets just get on with the story.**

* * *

It was instinct.

Molly raised her wings high up in the air, eyes wide. She didn't think of a single plan or option; just _don't let Liam get shot. _She stared the alligator dead in the eye, trembling. _What do I do? _

She didn't know what the correct thing to do was. Should she try to fly or something? Grab Peanut and bolt? Attack the alligator? She couldn't focus. She only remembered his command; _Come here._

There was no other option. His ugly, scaly fingers curled around the trigger. She had to surrender. Escape didn't matter; she just needed Liam alive.

She walked towards him.

"Thats my girl," he cackled. He gripped her wing so tightly she gasped in pain. Should she say something? Or should she just be dragged along dumbly, like a child?

_Thats what you are. A child. You can't do anything. You can only sit by. Don't you get it? You failed. You're a failure. They're going to perform the Operation on everyone now because you FAILED!_

Molly looked at Liam. He wasn't unconscious, like she had guessed. His eyes were stunned, almost vacant. She had to think. It couldn't be entirely hopeless. There had to be some kind of way.

Molly turned her head and saw Alfonso, against the wall. He had blood on him. Molly stared at him, trying to telepathically tell him how sorry she was.

Alfonso weakly grinned at her and tossed her a small, thick stick. Molly caught it and glanced at her capturer. Somehow, he hadn't noticed. He was busy saying something to Liam. He dragged them into the cages and locked them, then picked up Alfonso like a feather and carried him off somewhere.

Maybe they'd do the Operation on him, too.

"I'm sorry," Molly murmured. Her voice was surprisingly steady.

"What for? I would've done the same thing." he replied. His voice was ragged.

"What happened?" Molly whispered.

"You went in and this gigantic alligator walked in. Chief ran for it, but that alligator guy beat the crap out of me and Alfonso."

"Are you alright?" Molly gasped.

"Yeah, I guess. My head hurts."

Molly rubbed the spot where Terry had bumped her on the head earlier. "Same."

"What did Alfonso toss you?" he queried.

"I don't know." Molly observed the small sticklike object. It was faintly familiar.

"Let me see." Molly handed Liam the object through the bars of their cages. Liam sucked in his breath and Molly's heart leaped.

"T-this is a taser gun," he hissed.

"Huh?"

"Thats the thing those two alligators shot us with. It sends electricity into you and renders you completely useless."

"Great," Molly said. "But how can we use it to get us out? Other than shooting the guards?"

"If we can get out of these cages, no alligator will stand in our way." Liam aimed towards the wall and pulled the trigger. It made a _ti-ti-ti-ti _noise rapidly, sparks flaring off the tip.

"This thing has enough voltage to knock you out," Liam said in wonder.

"Again, great," Molly snapped. "But it's useless if we can't get out of these cages."

"Don't you see?" Liam said excitedly. "Once they take us out to do the Operation, bam, we shoot them with this little guy and bolt!"

Molly frowned. "But…what about Peanut? And Alfonso? And Chief?"

"Well, sometimes sacrifices gotta be made."

"What?! Thats as stupid as 'screw Peanut'! We have to get them all out."

Liam sighed. "Peanut's been Operated on, there's nothing we can-"

The door burst open and two gators in white coats stepped in. They quietly unlocked the doors and dragged Liam and Molly out of their cages. Liam winked at Molly, whipped out the taser, and aimed it at the one holding him. They let out cries of alarm that were quickly silenced.

"Run," Liam said tersely. Molly froze. _I have to save Peanut!_

Molly heard the door open and she whirled around. Backup? No, it was the pink squirrel herself.

"Whats going on, slacker?" she questioned, looking around.

"No time!" Molly grabbed her arm. "RUN!"

"Is this a race? If it is, I dunno if I can win…I'm pretty short, but-"

"Lets play a game called Don't Say Anything or You Lose," Liam hissed. Molly hadn't ever seen him like this, his eyes shifting, his pose tight and face concentrated.

Peanut grinned and pretended to zip her lips. _If this squirrel knew what the heck she's running from…_

"Help!"

Molly whirled around and saw Chief, held down by two guards. Liam pointed the taser at the guards.

"They're taking me to the Operation! Help!"

Molly heard more guards clomping behind her. _They're surrounding us!_

Time seemed to slow down. If they saved Chief, they'd get caught; if they ran, they could escape, but Chief would be Operated on. Liam seemed to be boarding the same train of thought. Molly looked at him.

"We're sorry, Chief," Liam choked out.

"You lose!" Peanut said triumphantly. Molly had already forgotten about their 'game'.

The footsteps were getting louder behind them.

"But sometimes, sacrifices have to be made." Liam's hand tightened on the taser and he grabbed Molly's wing. "I'm sorry."

They all bolted the instant the backup guards burst in, yelling and cursing.

"RUN!" Liam yelled, and whirled around, shooting electricity. All thought left Molly's mind, replaced by a wild, primitive instinct to save herself. She opened her wings, closed her eyes, and pushed off.

She hadn't actually flown before, and flying wouldn't exactly help her all that much in this narrow tunnel, but she did it anyway. She heard Peanut cheering beneath her.

"Follow me!" Molly yelled, swooping down the tunnel. Well, flying did have an advantage; it was a LOT faster than walking. She saw Liam panting as he followed her, scooped up Peanut, and poured on speed. _Humans are fast, _she observed.

"I didn't know you could fly," Liam puffed.

"I'm a _duck_," Molly replied. Liam grinned his million-dollar smile and Molly grinned back, and spread her wings, slamming into a ladder.

"Owwww!" Molly huffed. She whirled around and spotted Liam behind her, his face red.

"You're fast," he panted. Molly didn't respond, looking at the ladder.

"Lets go," Liam said, catching his breath. Suddenly Peanut gasped.

"Peanut?" Molly asked.

"Can't…leave…tunnel…" she hissed, and she dropped down from Liam's arms.

"GUAAAAAAAAAARDS!" she shrieked.

"What the hell?" Liam yelled, reaching for her. "Stop! We're escaping!"

"You CAN'T escape!" Peanut snarled. Liam saw about ten alligators rushing down the corridor.

"Up! Go up! Go up the damn ladder, Molly! NOW!"

Molly scrambled for the ladder, and saw Liam wield the taser. It was too small to handle that many guards.

He wasn't going to be able to escape.

"Not on my watch!" Molly snapped, and lunged for the nearest alligator, kicking him in the face. "Go for their eyes!"

But there was only three of them against so many, and Peanut seemed to be on the wrong side. She felt a cold barrel of a gun against her head.

"The Operation can suck it," one snapped. "I'm killing this duck whether my programming likes it or no-OW!"

Alfonso kicked the gator in the head, quickly followed by Chief.

"Need help?" Chief puffed.

"Thanks," Molly gasped, her heart hammering. She'd ask questions later. "Come on, up the ladder!"

They all scrambled up, Alfonso gripping Peanut as she yelled for help.

"They're kidnapping meeee!" she wailed.

They burst into a field with train tracks. As luck would have it, a train was chugging along on them now.

"Wait!" Liam gasped, waving his hand. The train stopped.

"What're yall doing out here in the middle o' nowhere?" the train driver-a monkey- asked, confused.

"No time," Liam said impatiently. "Can you drive us to-"

"Banana," Molly interrupted. That was the name of Peanut's town. "We need to drop off Peanut over here. And then could you drive us to Solaris?"

"Banana and Solaris are pretty far from here," he grunted. "But, hey, as long as you pay me."

* * *

"Stop for Solaris, stop for Solaris!"

Liam and Molly got up, exhausted. "You guys gonna be okay?" Liam asked Alfonso and Liam. Alfonso nodded.

During the train ride, Alfonso said he had fought with the big alligator that had threatened to shoot Liam-Kevin-and run for it. He had seen Chief along the way and had tased the guards holding him with the spare taser he kept in his pocket, then run for Molly and Liam's rescue.

"Sorry for not saving you back there," Liam told Chief awkwardly.

"Gaha! I would've done the same thing!" Chief laughed.

Liam gave him a mock hurt expression and grabbed Molly's wing.

"Lets go," he said.

They stepped off the train and Molly breathed in the air of Solaris.

"Home Sweet Home," Liam sighed. The sun was rising, which meant they were in that prison for at least a day. Hopefully nobody had noticed.

Liam looked down at Molly. "We beat them. Alfonso can save Chief, and I can save you, and maybe there will be humans again." Molly looked into his eyes.

They were full of tears.

_We're home._


End file.
